Blog

13Jan 2019

A new year… a new you? Reset your mindset!

I’m not sure what your thoughts are on New Year’s resolutions, but does anyone else feel like all of this “New Year, New You” hype is just designed makes people feel bad about themselves — like nothing we are already doing is good enough? Some days, it feels like if you aren’t eating ketogenic, gluten-free, green organic smoothies while cleansing and doing yoga then you are a rubbish person. Ok…maybe that’s a slight exaggeration, but I think you get my point.

Don’t get me wrong…I am a big advocate for setting goals and developing healthy habits. I am constantly learning new things, trying new things and striving to improve my health, my life and my ability to benefit others. But it isn’t necessary to wait until the new year to develop better habits. In fact, I find that any time my routine is disrupted (eg. After a vacation, a long weekend, etc) that is a really great time to develop some new behaviours because I can get into a new routine.

But…before you start that new routine, I urge you to take a good hard look at your mindset first. Are you willing to do whatever it takes, for however long it takes, in order to achieve your goal? Because if not, there is quite a high probability that you won’t be successful. Goal setting is not something to be taken lightly. I urge you to choose your goals carefully because every time you don’t succeed, it chips a way a bit at your self-confidence and makes you less likely to try again in the future.

Once you have that iron-clad mindset of “I’m going to accomplish this no matter what” then you need to be asking yourself exactly WHY you want to achieve that goal? People have a tendency to set the same goals as everyone else (eg. exercise more, eat “healthier, lose weight) without really exploring the reasons WHY they want to accomplish it. The WHY is what keeps you going when you don’t really feel like it. If your WHY is weak, then generally, so is your commitment to achieving that goal, which is why so many New Years resolutions go by the wayside within a few weeks.

So my suggestion would be this….before you jump on the bandwagon of tracking your steps, your sleep or every calorie you eat, first decide if this is what you want to achieve more than anything else in 2019 and if so, what exactly are your reasons for wanting to achieve this? So for example, if your goal this year is to lose weight, WHY do you want to lose weight? How is life going to be different as a result? What will you be able to do then that you can’t do now? And what are you willing to give up (short-term and long-term) in order to achieve this (and is it sustainable)? It’s surprising that when I ask clients these exact questions, their answers often reveal that the REAL issues relate to low self-esteem, negative self-talk, a poor fitness levels and/or things that have very little do with how much they weigh.

So I urge you to dig deeper this year. You need to go beyond all the quick-fixes and superficial advice that you see in the media if you want to make real and lasting change. And that is precisely what my team and I are here to help you to do. So if you need help with shifting your mindset, setting priorities and developing long-term strategies around food, eating and weight, please get in touch at info@eatgreatfeelgreat.co.uk.